Jungle Rescue: Sugar Crash
by Laura JN
Summary: Steve gets a call from Tony, warning him that Wakanda is under threat. He goes to rescue Bucky, but there is trouble waiting for him. Bucky discovers hazelnut chocolate spread, and Steve has to deal with prankster Natasha. Its the RomCom full of banter that you never knew that you wanted or needed.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"What do you mean, 'He's in danger?'" Steve paused in his tracks. He had been on his way back to his hideout in Brooklyn, when the 'anonymous' call came through, from someone whose voice sounded _a lot_ like Tony Stark's.

"Just get over there. Vision says it's some douchebag named 'Erik Killmonger'. Fitting name huh?" there was some rustling on the line for a moment, before another familiar voice took over,

"Those are _not_ the words I used." Vision cut in. "But Erik is heading toward the base in Wakanda, heavily armed. His Majesty said he could handle it, but Mr. Stark thought-" More rustling.

"Whatever floating-Jarvis-dude." Tony must have grabbed the phone back,

"What's the fastest way to the Horn of Africa? Come on help me out here man." Steve picked up his pace, keeping his phone to his ear as he jogged, "And how did you even get this number? Wait don't answer that. Just send me a jet or something."

"Already on it's way. See that tall building, at your two o'clock?" Tony drawled. Steve turned to see a skyscraper that was a fair bit taller than the others around it, "Get to the roof. And to answer your questions, you are _so_ predictable Rogers."

* * *

Within ten minutes, Steve had geared up, though rather than his regular all-american look, he pulled on a black shirt and combat trousers. He packed a backpack full of supplies, mostly weapons, though he shoved in a first aid kit and some snacks from the cupboard, just in case.

Of course they had known where he was hiding out. So much for secrecy. Well as long as the government didn't know his whereabouts, that would be enough. He was after all, a fugitive. It did occur to him that this could be a trap to flush him out, but when his best friend and 'danger' were in the same sentence, he had to go. There were no 'ifs' or 'buts'.

He should never have left Bucky in such a defenceless state. He should never have let him go under. Steve had been apprehensive about the idea from the start, but Bucky had been insistent. He had wanted Steve to wait until either Hydra was gone, or he found a way to undo the damage they'd done to his head. So much for that plan.

After locking up his apartment, Steve stole out of the building, keeping to the shadows. He disliked sneaking around like a common criminal, but he was good at it. He'd been on enough covert missions to know all the tricks.

Steve made it to the roof without being spotted, despite a near miss with a cat in an alleyway, which had been mewling loudly at him, as if he might part with some food. Steve had apologised to the feline, as he was only carrying food fit for humans with him. Besides, who knew how long he might be out in the jungle for. He'd never been to Africa before, so navigating might prove difficult. He'd charged his phone, but that would only last so long.

Up on the roof, a jet was waiting for him as promised. The jet had a giant Stark logo vinyl on the side. He got in beside the pilot, and pulled the door shut behind him,

"Your boss ever hear of subtlety?" Cap quipped. The woman turned her head and gave him a sardonic look, "Of course not."

The flight lasted far longer than Steve was comfortable with. Four hours into the twenty hour flight and we was itching to go faster. He gave the pilot his best pleading look,

"Sir, that isn't going to work." She sighed. Ten minutes later she relented, for whatever reason, and gripped the gear stick, "You don't say one word to Mr Stark about this." She said, before pulling the gear up. With the jet now going at double speed, Steve relaxed. They still had another eight hours to go, maybe he could convince her to go at triple.

Hours later, when they finally reached North East Africa, the pilot spoke up,

"I should warn you Sir, they will have reached the base by now. You won't have much time, if any."

"T'Challa reassured me the base was heavily weaponised. I doubt they could easily break in."

"These aren't just regular soldiers Sir. Wakanda has an unusually high rate of enhanced beings. They say it's got something to do with that metal they use in your shield… and a lot of those guys are working for Erik Killmonger. At least that's what Mr Stark said."

"Wow Tony… might have mentioned this before I set out." Steve said to himself. "Thanks for the intel."

"No problem Sir." She returned to focusing on the jet, pulling them closer to the ground. "This is your stop." Steve had of course, already jumped out of the jet. Without a parachute, "Wow, he really does do that."

* * *

Steve landed in a crouch on the roof of the Wakandan base, then ran toward the door. He knew where to find Bucky, but getting there was going to be a pain in the ass. It was eerily quiet, despite being surrounded by jungle. There should have been birds chirping away, and the sound of insects, but only the dry wind reached his ears. He felt his heart skip a beat.

Something was wrong.

Screw stealth.

Steve kicked the door down. He ran down the stairwell, along vast corridors until he reached the elevator. Still, there were were no signs of life. He was struggling to breathe now, and not because of all the running.

Had he come too late?

There were no signs of a struggle. Nobody anywhere. Steve mashed the button for the 9th floor, and was relieved when the elevator complied.

When the doors opened, Steve was met by another round of pure silence. This was getting creepier and creepier. He darted over to the control panel, and entered the code to release the cryo chamber. He caught himself begging aloud that Bucky was still inside.

As the pod rose up out of the floor, Steve fell to his knees. There, in the center of the chamber was his best friend.

Steve could not relax just yet however. He pressed a button to drain the chamber of fluid. As the liquid slowly drained away, Bucky started twitching, and then finally started to breathe.

While the chamber drained, Steve checked the security monitors. No wonder it was so quiet, everything was happening below ground. There was fighting going on in just about every room in the minus levels, but the infiltrators were slowly making their way up the building. Steve pressed another button to open the chamber, then rushed over to catch his friend. Bucky fell into his arms, just as he started to hear hurried footsteps in the stairwell. Blue eyes blinked up at him.

With no time to think, he pulled Bucky onto his back, and carried him out of the room. He ran down a different way to the one he'd come in, hoping this would take them away from the fight. Steve hated running away, but he had to protect Bucky at all costs,

"Steve?" Bucky rasped. His voice was right beside Steve's ear, "What- What's going on? Is it Hydra?"

"Don't think so." Steve darted down another corridor, "And welcome back pal."

"You didn't happen to grab my arm did you?"

"Where is it?"

"You didn't think I'd need more than one arm?"

"Is this a test?" Steve smiled, stopping short in front of another elevator, "Which floor?"

"Five, I think."

"...You up for a fight?"

"Are you kidding? I'm currently unarmed in every sense of the word." He paused, "Of course I am." Steve set Bucky down slowly so he could find his legs.

"Remember that time at the amusement park in Queens?" Bucky mused, "We were drunk on schnapps, but you just had to pick a fight with some thug who was pushing other kids off the rides."

"You remember that?"

"You got your ass kicked, as usual. I had to step in of course and save your punk ass."

"Are you just bringing this up to make me feel bad?" Steve frowned,

"Nothing's changed. You do the fighting and I'll watch your back. Deal?"

"You want me to do all the hard work?" The elevator hit the fifth floor at that moment, "I see your attitude is back." the doors started to open,

"You were the one with the attitude." Bucky stepped back, as Cap pulled out his shield.

Bullets came flying toward them.

The corridor was filled with Erik's and T'Challa's warriors. Steve ran forward, and punched his way through the first few guys, but they recovered in seconds. Bucky ducked down and swept his leg out, tripping two of them over.

One woman sucked in her breath, before breathing out a ball of fire. It came pelting towards them. Steve raised his shield just in time, covering both himself and Bucky. He threw the shield back at her, knocking her out cold this time,

"How long was I out for Steve? Is this a thing now?"

"Two months. And no Buck, fire breathing is not normal." Steve grabbed his shield from the woman's unconscious body, and aimed it at another guy further down the corridor.

"These guys are enhanced?" Bucky asked, helping a Wakandan soldier back on his feet,

"Yup." Steve raised his shield again, as a flurry of tiny knives shot out of one guy's skin.

"Gross." Bucky remarked, as the man's skin healed over.

"Come on. Let's find your arm so we can get out of here." Steve darted down a corridor off to the left, trying each door as he went, pausing only to knock out the infiltrators.

"In here." Bucky stopped in front of a lab door. "They were fixing it up in here before I went under." Steve kicked down the door, and stood on guard while Bucky searched the room. "Got it." He said a moment later, as a whirring sound came from his shoulder. There was his metal arm, new and improved. Guess they would find out how much.

"How is it?" Steve asked as they ran back towards the elevator,

"Lighter." Bucky called after him, "I hope it's strong enough." Just to test it out, he punched at the wall. His arm cut through the stone like it was paper.

"That's new." Steve remarked. "Vibranium?"

"Maybe." Bucky smiled, following after his friend.

They fought their way through the building, until they reached the second floor. By this time there were a number of T'Challa's warriors backing them up, and the tides were turning.

At the end of the second floor corridor was the king himself, stabbing into a thug with his claws,

"Your Majesty" Steve called over,

"Captain. Good timing." T'Challa looked over to them, letting the man fall to the floor, blood pouring out of his chest.

Just at that moment, more enhanced soldiers swarmed the corridor.

"I'll take care of the intruders, but feel free to take some out as you leave." T'Challa called. He seemed angry. His warriors followed him toward the oncoming attackers. Steve turned to face his friend, his expression torn.

"I want to help them too, but we'll get in the way in this cramped space. Let's do as he says." Bucky grabbed Steve's wrist, and led him over to the stairwell. "This way we can thank them for taking care of me."

Bucky slammed his new metal fist into a soldier who was just coming up the stairs. He went flying across the space and landed in a heap on top of his comrades. It created a domino effect for of soldiers toppling over down the staircase. Steve took the chance to run forward.

On they fought, until they finally reached the building's exit. They must have taken out at least two thirds of the enemy soldiers, so Steve felt a little less guilty about them escaping. Bucky had been right. They had been more helpful this way.

The two men slipped away into the jungle, moving fast but quietly between the dense trees. They kept going for about five minutes, before Steve felt they were far enough away from the fight,

"Up here." Bucky pointed to a tree with so many branches, they could not see the top. "We can catch our breath in the canopy." He began climbing the tree with ease,

"Alright Tarzan. You lead the way." Steve called after him, grinning,

"Shut up."

* * *

When Steve reached the canopy, Bucky had already found a good branch to rest on,

"Do these trees look… odd to you." Bucky asked, "These leaves are weird." he plucked a fresh leaf from the tree, handing it to Steve. He glanced from the leaf to his friend,

"It's… glowing?"

"You sure I was only out for two months? Don't hold back on me, man."

"Glowing trees aren't a thing either." Steve huffed, climbing onto the branch to join Bucky. The tree was pretty sturdy, but as his friend had pointed out, it was indeed glowing, "Botany isn't really my forte." He frowned at the tree, pulling out his phone. After a minute of trying to figure out the camera app, Bucky snatched the phone out of his hand, and snapped some shots of the trees, and a close up of the leaf.

"I never can figure out modern technology."

"You can use a Wakandan control panel, but not a smart phone?" Bucky mused, "Alright who am I sending these to?" Bucky was scrolling through Steve's contacts, "Stark?"

"Yeah. He can look at it in his lab. Or get one of his staff to anyway." Steve's frown grew more stubborn as Bucky sent the pics, then returned his phone. "I'm gonna have to take a crash course in this stuff. I'm still only halfway through my bucket list."

"You made a list?"

"Well, Sam wrote most of it."

"Falcon guy?"

"Yeah him. But I add to the list whenever I get told I have to watch some film I missed or listen to an album I'm lacking." Steve paused, as Bucky was clearly trying not to laugh, "What?"

"You never were up to date, Steve." He chuckled. It was a strangely beautiful sound, perhaps because it was so long since Steve had heard his friend laugh,

"Jerk."

"Hey, I'm the one who remembered to ask Stark for a pick-up." Bucky was grinning now. "Unless you were comfortable just chilling out in the jungle for the next few days."

"You and Tony were texting?" Steve glanced down at his phone. There were a string of messages between them, which he had failed to notice until now. "You updated him on the entire situation between photos?"

"Some of us can type fast." Bucky teased. Steve pulled a face that made Bucky put his hands up, "Hey, you would have taken all day, old man."

"I'm younger than you!" Steve felt his muscles bunching up,

"Pretty sure you've been defrosted longer than I've been out of cryo." Steve practically tackled his friend, who was laughing like a brat. He tousled the guys's smug head, before pulling him in closer. He couldn't help himself. He had missed his friend for so long, thought him dead for years, and then had to let him put himself back in cryo for two whole months. He needed to just… hold him for a while. Bucky let him.

* * *

It was 2AM, and they still had another hour to kill before their pick up arrived. Steve could feel boredom seeping in, when Bucky picked up his phone,

"Hey I'm surprised you haven't installed any drawing apps. Or did Stark not introduce you to the app store?"

"There's a store for apps?"

"Jeeze… Here lemme show you." Bucky turned on something called 'mobile data' and opened up an app Steve hadn't even spotted. He browsed for a while, looking at user reviews, before installing an app for sketching. Steve couldn't believe Tony had failed to mention this to him. Yet another thing to berate him for when they got to Manhattan.

"So I can draw with this?" Steve took the phone back, looking at the blank canvas on the screen. He picked up a twig, and tried making some light marks on the page. Sure enough, pencil marks appeared on his phone screen. "Well this is neat."

Bucky watched as Steve began sketching the landscape. He even told Bucky to sit still so he could sketch him too. Seven sketches later and Bucky was bored again. He picked up Steve's backpack and rummaged through it, pulling out a jar of something called 'Nutella.'

"You had chocolate on you and didn't say anything?" Bucky gawked,

"Oops…" Steve paused in his drawing. He saved the file, before pocketing his phone. He reached into his bag and pulled out a packet of mini pretzels. "Try dipping these in it."

"Steve, do you know when I last had chocolate?"

"Uh… no?"

"1941. _Before_ rations."

"...Oh." Steve knew his smile looked stupid.

"Yeah ' _Oh'_. Don't hold out on me man." Bucky smiled, opening the jar and the pretzels.

"It won't be the same without Sam's homemade cookies, but these should add crunch, Steve pulled out a pretzel, handing it to his friend. Bucky looked down at the jar of nutty chocolatey goodness like it was a lifeboat in a storm.

"Midnight feast?" Bucky grinned up at him, and Steve was suddenly a kid again in 1928, and his best friend was sneaking him chocolate bars from his mom's 'high shelf'. Sarah had told them not to, but hey, they wanted chocolate real bad. They'd hidden away in their cushion fort in the living room, believing themselves geniuses, never to be caught. Of course they _had_ been caught, with chocolatey evidence all over their sorry faces.

Bucky dipped his pretzel into the Nutella, scooping up a large dollop of the smooth substance, before tossing it into his mouth. Steve watched in amusement, as Bucky's face changed from contentment, to bliss, to near tears. There was that beautiful sound again. As he chuckled, Steve felt his heart ache,

"Screw cryo," Bucky commented between mouthfuls of pretzel dipped in Nutella, "I'm staying up for this."

* * *

Tony Stark was examining the photos Steve had sent him. Funny, he didn't recall teaching Steve how to attach files to messages. Even Thor had got that far, but Steve required training for pretty much anything tech-related.

The images showed fairly normal looking leaves for Wakanda, except that they were glowing. This was not normal. He ran some basic tests on the images, but he would need a sample to find out anything useful. He recalled blinky the fish, from that episode of _The Simpsons_ where they made you feel bad about pollution. The leaves were glowing kinda like Blinky. Not in a good way. More like a mutated way.

Tony sent a text to Steve, asking him to bring back some leaf samples. He hoped his pilot got Rogers and his bestie out of there before things got freakier.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The jet hovered low over the canopy, as Bucky and Steve climbed a ladder to the cockpit. It was 3AM now, and the jungle had returned to it's eerie silence, bar the whirring sounds from the jet. Once strapped inside, they took off at full speed,

"What's the latest?" Steve asked the pilot,

"T'Challa took out the last of Erik's soldiers. He is interrogating them now."

"Any idea what they were after?" Bucky asked,

"Not yet. But there were plenty of things stored in that base that would prove deadly in the wrong hands."

"Tell me about it." Bucky rolled his eyes.

When the pair finally reached Steve's apartment it was late evening. They had slept for most of the journey, but were now feeling quite peckish, having lived entirely off of snacks. Steve made a quick trip to the grocery store, while Bucky took a shower.

Steve returned to find his friend lounging on the couch with just a towel around his hips, browsing through one of his sketchbooks. Steve felt his cheeks burn, when he thought of what the book contained. He sketched all kinds of things, but most of the pictures were of the same subject. He strolled straight into the kitchen, and started putting the shopping away,

"Here, let me help," Bucky said from behind him, reaching for a Nutella jar, "Oh wow you got the good stuff." Steve shook his head, hoping his face wasn't red,

"Well you seemed pretty pissed off when you were deprived of it before, so I thought I'd better stock up." Steve took the jar back, placing it in the cupboard.

After all the shopping was put away, Steve put a pizza in the oven and set a timer,

"So, Steve, I was looking through your sketchbook." Bucky's tone was teasing. Steve felt the burn return to his cheeks,

"You were huh?" He tried to sound casual, walking past his friend to leave the kitchen. Bucky stuck his arm out, grabbing Steve's shoulder,

"Look at me a second?" He said, more seriously this time, "Why're you hiding? You know I'd be the last person to judge you."

"It's not that." Steve shook his head, and tried to meet his friend's eyes. They were swimming with concern, "I missed you, Buck. I'm no scientist, so I'm pretty much relying on others to find a way to fix your head. I felt completely helpless…"

"What hydra did to my brain isn't your fault, Steve. You can draw as many pictures of me as you like okay?" Bucky was close, closer than they had been in a long time, and he was practically naked. Steve nodded, and Bucky lowered his arm. Something unfamiliar bubbled up in Steve's chest, something akin to disappointment. What was going on with him?

* * *

There was no further news on Wakanda the next day, so Steve brought Bucky along for his morning jog. Bucky had slept on the sofa, and was complaining of a crick in his neck, so Steve insisted that moving about would do him some good.

"You do realise this is how Stark knows where you live right?" Bucky commented, "I mean apart from this being where we grew up." They were jogging through a small, local park in Brooklyn,

"I'm in disguise…" Steve pointed to his baseball cap,

"Yeah cause that's totally hiding your famous face." Bucky laughed. He could just about keep up with Cap, but it was more of a sprint for him,

"I can't stay cooped up indoors all the time. I'd go stir-crazy."

"I feel like you've forgotten what covert even means."

"What about you? You don't even have a cap." Steve gestured to his head. It was true that Bucky's face was exposed, but then again the Winter Soldier had always kept his face hidden. He was wearing a dark, long sleeved shirt and black gloves, so it's not like his arm was visible. He'd even tied his hair back,

"I think I'm less conspicuous."

Just as the pair rounded a corner in the park, there was a familiar figure blocking their path. They slowed down just in time not to crash into her,

"Natasha?"

"Steve." She smiled. Bucky was staring at her like she was a ghost.

"Uh, did I miss something?" Steve glanced between them, "And how the hell did you find us?"

" _Please._ " She drawled,

"I told you it was a crap disguise." Bucky reminded Steve,

"Can I borrow your partner?" Natasha asked, glancing over at Bucky, who was now looking sheepish.

"Uh, Buck?"

"I better do what the lady asks." He nodded, walking over to her,

"I'll bring him back in one piece… maybe." She smiled over at Steve, before walking Bucky away. Great, even Natasha knew his 'secret' hideout.

* * *

When Bucky finally returned to Steve's apartment, it was late afternoon. He looked pretty grim. Steve insisted he sit down on the sofa, while he poured him a coffee,

"What happened, Buck?" He asked, unsure of where this might lead,

"Aw man… I'd completely forgotten." Bucky smooshed his hand over his face, "I was just starting to remember her before I went into cryo again, and when I saw her it hit me."

"Her fist?"

"No… she's my ex. At least, sort of." Bucky looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Steve handed him the coffee, which Bucky took a large swig of,

"Hydra tasked me with winning her over, making her think I was on her side… I even slept with her."

"Oh man…"

"I shot her twice. The second bullet left a scar." Bucky winced. Steve thought back to the time Natasha had shown him the scar above her hip left by the winter soldier. He wondered just how many memories Bucky had recovered,

"You were under their control right?" Steve asked,

"Well yeah, but I manipulated her… she wanted to remind me." Bucky took another long swig of coffee. Steve felt his fists clench, as he sat down beside his friend, "Then she did the worst thing possible."

"What?" Steve grabbed Bucky's cheek carefully, turning him so he could see his face,

"No nothing like that. I apologised of course, and she said 'It's okay'. Man who does that? Now I feel worse." Steve stared at him for a while, before relaxing,

"Please don't scare me like that. I know what Natasha is capable of." He sighed heavily. Well he had learned something new about his friend today, "Wait, how the hell did you seduce Natasha Romanoff?"

"You're saying I'm not attractive? Thanks pal."

"No I mean… Nat is… you know."

"Hard to get? In charge?"

"Something like that." Steve's eyebrow raised,

"Yeah… She wasn't fierce back then. She was vulnerable, lonely… I was strong, and she wouldn't have to worry about me. You get the jist of it."

"That wasn't you… That's why she said it was okay. She realised you're not like that." Steve smiled, "You're a good man, Buck."

Steve's best friend looked up at him, and for a moment he felt his gut clench. There was genuine uncertainty there. Like maybe he still thought of himself as a monster.

"Guess I'm the vulnerable one now." Bucky smiled weakly. It wasn't the beautiful smile from before, but a sad, insecure smile. Steve suddenly felt a strong need to kiss that sadness away. He was already leaning forwards, when he caught himself.

What the hell was he doing?

Bucky was his best friend.

He was the only other person on the planet who could possibly understand him, and that was not worth ruining with whatever was going through his head right now. Steve let go of Bucky's jaw, realizing his hand had been there for a while now.

"Steve?" Bucky looked taken aback, "What's wrong?"

"Ah- It's... Time for food." Steve said, getting up from the sofa. He practically marched into the kitchen.

"Steve…" Bucky followed after him, "I wasn't born yesterday."

"No kidding." Steve filled a pan with water, and placed it on the stove. Bucky just stood in the doorway, with his arms crossed over his chest,

"You were about to say something, then you freaked out. Talk to me, man." Bucky was being supportive, but Steve could not go there. He had minimal experience with romance to say the least, and he seriously _could not go there_ with his best friend. Nuh uh. Instead he weighed enough pasta for the two of them, and turned on the gas.

When Steve stepped away from the stove, he turned to see that Bucky had gone from his perch. He set a timer for the pasta, before going in search of his friend. He didn't know what he could say, but he couldn't leave things like this between them.

* * *

Steve found Bucky sitting in the bedroom with his head in his hands. He was perched on the end of the bed, and didn't look up when Steve entered the room. Slowly, he sat down beside him,

"I'm sorry, Buck. That was childish of me." He tried, "I guess there's still some crap I have to deal with from my own past, though I'm not sure what that is yet."

"Fine." Bucky looked up at him, "But I'm not sleeping on the sofa again tonight. I'm too tall." Steve wasn't sure how this related to their conversation, but he nodded anyway. They had bunked together countless times back in the old days.

That night, Steve's old nightmare returned.

 _The train. Reaching out. Failing. Falling. Falling. Screaming inside from the pain in his chest. His heart being torn right out of him as the valley swallowed up his-_

Steve gasped.

Bucky was leaning over him in the dark, concern lining his features,

"Steve, thank god." He breathed, "You were shouting."

"Uh, s-sorry." Steve tried to reorient himself. Bucky's thumb brushed over his cheeks, and Steve realised that there were tears rolling down his face.

"You were calling my name." Bucky said quietly. Steve could only stare up at him, still relieved to see him alive. "You told me to grab your hand." Bucky gave his hand a squeeze to illustrate his point. He must have been holding it for some time. Steve pulled Bucky down on top of him, and just clung to him for a moment, holding him firmly against his chest,

"I couldn't lose you." Steve spoke into the tangled dark hair, that now brushed against his cheek. He couldn't say another word.

"I'm here, Steve. I'm right here."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Steve awoke the next morning to find Bucky sleeping soundly on top of him. It was soothing at first, but then Steve felt his cheeks burn again in that way that made him want to flee. He carefully pried Bucky off of him, and rolled him onto his back.

Steve sat up in bed, taking in his surroundings. Last night had been rough. He'd had that nightmare again, but then Bucky had pulled him out of it. Now he lay sprawled out beside him, the morning sun pooling light over his bare chest. Steve absentmindedly reached for his sketchbook, and spent about twenty minutes drawing, before he got up to make coffee.

Today they were meeting up with the rest of Steve's team to discuss what happened in Wakanda, and to hear any new updates from Tony. They met in an abandoned office building Clint had scouted out. Inside they had found a cosy little boardroom with wheelie chairs and a big desk. It was perfect.

Tony was being ever so subtle about definitely _not_ knowing about their totally secret team meetings. He had just been sharing his findings on the leaf samples they had brought back,

"Any questions?" Tony asked, speaking from Sam's laptop screen,

"Yeah, I got one," Clint piped up, "Can you repeat like… all of what you just said, but this time in English."

"I second that." Sam agreed,

"Come on guys, its basic biology. I'm no expert but…"

"He basically said the large presence of vibranium is 'enhancing' the local wildlife." Natasha translated. Everyone's eyes turned to look at her, "What, don't you guys speak Stark yet?"

"Tony, you took ten minutes to say that?" Clint looked back to the laptop screen,

"Well I wanted to explain the causation and-" Tony was cut off by a loud yawn from Sam, "Rude, Wilson. Rude."

"Dude, there's no point explaining it if you're going to talk in a foreign tongue." Sam sounded even sleepier. There were nodding heads around the room. Tony looked pissed.

"Thanks, Tony." Steve tried to pacify the self-declared genius, "So if the wildlife is becoming enhanced, then could that also explain the high numbers of enhanced humans over there too?"

"Well of course as a scientist I hate to jump to conclusions, but let's just say I'd bet money on it." Tony smiled his winning grin, "So my question is, what do we do about it?"

"This is a large scale op Tony, It might be one for your team." Natasha suggested,

"Naw man, you want to go covert on this one. I say we go in, all stealth mode." Sam cut in,

"We don't even know what the mission is yet." Bucky pointed out, "We can't exactly just move tons of metal 'covertly'."

"Okay, let me see what my team think and I'll get back to you tomorrow morning." Tony said before signing out. Well that was pretty final,

"Is Tony still pissed at me?" Sam asked, seeming genuinely unsure. Natasha gave him one of her looks, "He _is_ pissed at me."

That night, Steve found Bucky raiding the fridge around 1AM. He took out a box of eggs, then set them on the counter, beside a bag of flour and a jar of nutella,

"Buck, are you… baking?"

"Uh… kinda?" He said over his shoulder, breaking a large egg into a mug. "Natasha told me after the meeting, that I just gotta try this." He added a large dollop of nutella to the mug, then started whisking it together with the egg into a thick chocolatey goop,

"I like where this is going." Steve remarked, looking lustfully at the sweet smelling mixture,

"Yeah, it sounded good." Bucky added two tablespoons of flour, then whisked that in too. A few minutes later he had a temptingly smooth mix of heaven. He microwaved it for a minute, while Steve watched intently, "You know you're not supposed to stare at microwaves right?"

"Alright _Mom_." Steve put on his best bratty-kid voice. Just then the microwave pinged, and Bucky opened the door. A whole lot of steam came out, carrying with it the tantalising scent of freshly baked nutella cake. It was truly a sight to behold.

They let the cake cool for a few minutes, then served it up on side plates. Steve thought he had died and gone to the pearly gates, but he couldn't eat his whole portion, so he gave the rest to Bucky. His friend looked at him like he was crazy, but then happily consumed the rest of the cake,

"I think I need to make another one… Can I use more eggs?" He asked,

"Well there are five left…"

"Five more cakes…" Bucky looked lost for a moment,

"Five might be too many Buck."

" _Too many_ nutella cakes?"

"Oh man…"

* * *

That night Bucky did not sleep. He was wide awake for hours before his mind finally shut down. Somehow he still managed to get up at six in the morning. Steve eyed him skeptically as they jogged through the park,

"You're sure you got enough sleep? We've got another meeting at eight."

"I'll be fine, Steve. Besides, those cakes are worth it."

"I feel like your energy levels are too good to be true. You started snoring like… one hour before the alarm."

"I do _not_ snore."

Tony was back on Sam's laptop screen for the meeting that morning. He was scratching the back of his neck and avoiding looking at the camera,

"Uhh guys, my team aren't sure what to do either."

"If only Thor were here," Clint joked, "The almighty thunder god would totally know how to handle this."

"Shut up, Barton." Tony snapped, "Anyway, I got an email from his Majesty over in Wakanda. He said thanks for the intel, and to leave it to him for now. He'll let us know if the situation escalates."

"I don't know, Tony. I don't like the idea of just sitting here until it gets worse." Steve was on edge for some reason, at least until he spotted his pal next to him. Bucky looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open, "On second thought the guy knows what he's doing. It's his turf anyway." Bucky's was now visibly slouching in his chair, his eyes completely shut,

"Is your buddy there okay? He looks comatose." Tony peered in closer through the screen. Bucky chose that moment to slide entirely off his wheelie chair, and collapse into a heap on the floor,

"Is he dead?" Clint asked, "His face is pressed into the floor."

Steve got out of his seat, and rolled Bucky over,

"Aw man, he does look dead." Sam came over to help, "Check he's breathing?"

Steve leaned in close, pressing his ear to his friend's mouth and nose, but no sound came out,

"Dude is he seriously not breathing?" Sam looked horrified, "What the hell happened? He's too young to have an aneurysm."

"He's what? Eighty-five? Ninety?" Clint remarked. Meanwhile, Steve was trying to stay calm. He tried opening Bucky's eyes with his fingers, beating on his chest, but nothing could wake him. Just when Steve was about to freak out, Bucky let out a quiet sound,

"Wait, is he... snoring?" Natasha breathed, then fell into a fit of laughter. She had to cover her mouth and hit the desk to stem her guffawing.

"Oh Buck… I warned you not to eat more cake." Steve sighed. At this, Natasha actually fell over, and could not stop laughing, to the point that they called the meeting to a close. Steve pulled his deadweight of a friend onto his back, and lugged him out the door over his shoulder.

"How many did he have?" Natasha asked between laughing and kicking things,

"Too many." Steve sighed, "I stopped counting when he found the second egg box." With that, he left a howling Natasha to herself, and carried Bucky down to the exit. He hailed a cab for the first time in nearly a century, and instructed the driver to drop them home.

Steve dumped Bucky on his bed, making sure he was a in a position to take in air. He didn't think it was possible for an adult to have such an intense sugar crash, but Bucky had just proved him wrong. The guy looked peaceful though, which was kind of nice. He left Bucky a note saying that he'd gone to the gym.

When Steve got back from his two hour workout, he went to check on Bucky. His friend was still sound asleep, so he figured he'd leave him like that a while longer. He took a shower, before sauntering into the kitchen in search of a snack. On the counter was one remaining nutella cake. _Strange_ , he thought, that Bucky had eaten so many, but been unable to eat this last one. It was just sitting there in it's mug, looking all tempting and delicious. One bite couldn't hurt, _right?_

Steve went back into his room, and perched on a chair in the corner, he began munching away at his mug cake, whilst starting a new sketch. He'd drawn a few pictures by the time he realised his eyesight was… off. He looked down at his hands, and found them oddly blurry. He could focus if he tried hard, but it required conscious effort. He set his empty mug and the sketchbook aside, and tried to stand up.

He failed.

He tried again, and this time found he could just about do it. What the hell had been in that cake? He managed to get as far as the bed and collapse onto it just as his phone rang. Fumbling the device with his discoordinated hands, he somehow managed to pick up the call,

"H-hello?" He asked,

"Oh hi, Steve," It was Natasha, "I may have forgotten to mention…" She sounded particularly pleased with herself, "I popped over while you were out on your jog this morning and baked you one of my special Nutella microwave mug cakes. This one is particularly… potent, so don't eat it all in one go."

"Goddamit Nat." Steve said this incoherently,

"Oh, did you already eat it? Woops, my bad. It may have had just a tiny, teeny bit of alcohol in it."

"Na-ta-sha…"

"...Just a little ...vodka!" She then cracked up laughing again, and ended the call. Steve was going to have a firm word with her when he got out of this mess. For now he was struggling to control his body, and had a feeling his mind would go next.

Bucky was still asleep on the bed, so naturally Steve felt he had to wake him up. Comatose Bucky looked more sensible than drunk Steve right now,

"Buck, hey Buck, listen." Steve said to the sprawling body, "You gotta wake up man." He slowly crawled over to his friend, and tried to shake him awake by rolling him to and fro. Bucky muttered something back,

"What is it, Buck?"

"Srrsly stahp errt." Bucky murmured,

"Oh sorry, pal. Just wake up okay? I'm losing my marbles." Steve swayed about, and considered lying down. The thought made him nauseous however, so he stayed sitting up, "Y-You don't get to sleep while I'm suffering… k?" Steve knew he sounded like a moron, but he no longer had a functioning language centre in his brain. Finally, Bucky stirred,

"Steve? Hey, man, just gimme five more minutes." Bucky opened his eyes, and saw the man swaying above him. That got his attention. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes like a cat, "Steve are you okay? You look… wobbly."

"Ah- I don't know. N-tasha made cake… vodka." Steve nearly toppled over backwards. Bucky reached out to steady him, supporting his back,

"And I thought I had it bad. I didn't think you could even get drunk with all that serum in you?"

"Lots… vodka." Steve murmured, now toppling forwards against him. He crashed into Bucky, his hands naturally gliding over his friend's shoulders, and hanging onto him for dear life, "No balance. None…" Steve breathed into Bucky's neck. He thought for a moment he felt the guy shivver. He hoped he wasn't creeping the poor man out,

"Man, it's okay. I have the perfect solution to this." Bucky smiled, "Just wait here a sec." He reassured Steve, as he propped him up against the headboard. Steve tried to nod his head, but that also brought on signs of nausea, so he did as he was told. A minute later, Bucky returned, with a glass, and something that looked a lot like a bottle of Schnapps,

"No fair!" Steve whined, "You get the g-good stuff, and I'm hard-drunk already."

"No worries, Steve. I just gotta catch up." Bucky cheerily poured himself a glass, before sitting down beside Steve. He got nice and cosy on his side of the bed, cradling his glass like it was the good ol' days again. Steve couldn't help but crack a smile,

"You better not be in on this with N-Nat"

"Would I?" Bucky laughed, "Naw man I had no idea. She's crafty though. I'll have to get her to teach me some tricks."

"Ugh no." Steve grumbled, "Don't listen to her. She'll tell you awful… mean things."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Steve thought his friend was starting to sound pretty tipsy now, his speech slurring a little,

"Like when we were undercover, a-and there were hydra agents on our tail… She told me to kiss her so they wouldn't look our way. Then she asked me if that was my first kiss since the warrr…"

"That bad?"

"That's what I asked." Steve frowned, "I can't be _that_ bad." He looked over to see Bucky with this big stupid smirk on his stupid handsome face, "You are sooo not helping."

"You want me to help?" Bucky laughed,

"Show some support, Buck. My ego took a big hit cause o' her." Steve smiled at him, just as Bucky leaned forward,

Steve's vision went funny for a moment, and he felt something warm brush over his lips. Whatever it was sparked something inside him, and he found himself reaching out to pull it closer. He gripped the back of Bucky's shirt, his hands fisting into the cotton fabric, wanting to hold him there. Bucky's mouth was hot against his, but Steve was dimly aware that there was a cold metal hand under his shirt. The contrast in temperature was thrilling, as Bucky traced over his muscled chest. He lightly rubbed Steve's nipple, which caused him to grab for Bucky's shoulders. He felt all of his anxiety over their friendship just melt away to the back of his mind, as Bucky kissed his jaw,

"Definitely not bad," Bucky hummed right by his ear, "And you taste of Nutella man." He returned his lips to meet Steve's, pressing against them, softly at first, then slower, more powerful kisses that firmly claimed his mouth,

"Also Nat's f-fault." Steve replied between kisses, to which Bucky chuckled low against his throat. He kissed down Steve's neck, toward his collar.

Despite the alcohol, Steve's heart sped up. He felt it skip a beat when Bucky lingered right by his pulse. He felt teeth dance over his skin, then Bucky was licking him, slowly. He sucked and nibbled at Steve's neck, making him moan. He had lost all control of himself at this point, and found himself fisting his hand into Bucky's hair, pulling him closer still. That was when Bucky pulled back,

"Buck?" Steve panted,

"I feel like I'm taking advantage." his friend smiled, untangling Steve's hand from his dark locks of hair, "You're drunk as hell."

"I don't care." Steve just wanted more of him. He tried reaching toward Bucky, but he put his hands up to stop him,

"I'm pretty sure you can't consent when you're hammered." Bucky smiled, pushing Steve back against the headboard, "I'll order pizza. We can sober up and _then_ you can make your own decisions.

The concept of sobering up suddenly felt terrifying to Steve, but he knew he didn't have much choice in the matter. He sat there for a while, then Bucky came back with some buttered toast,

"Here, eat some of this while we're waiting for the pizza." he instructed. Steve wasn't quite on board with the plan yet, but he did like the idea of pizza. He felt like Bucky was trying to distract him, however,

"You know I would be okay with this when sober, Buck." He pointed to his sketchbook over by the chair. Bucky shot him a curious look, then went over to pick it up. His eyes glanced over the pages, lingering for a long time on the more recent picture of himself sleeping half-naked in Steve's bed. He set the book back down on the dresser, then walked over to the bed. He slowly prowled over on his hands and knees, making Steve's heart crash around inside his chest,

"I guess we do have some time before the pizza gets here," Bucky sounded like he was weighing up options, "And I do look pretty hot with my shirt off." Steve obligingly helped him by tugging the piece of clothing off, and over Bucky's head, "And you do still taste of Nutella…"

The two men made out for a good twenty minutes. Every now and then Steve would try to take things further, but Bucky eventually just captured his wrists in his metal hand, holding them high above his head as they kissed.

When the pizza finally arrived, Steve waited impatiently while Bucky went to answer the door. He took far too long, in Steve's opinion, bringing the pizza into the apartment, and setting it down on Steve's lap. The food did help however, and it wasn't long before all that delicious melted cheese reached his stomach, and his brain started to work again,

"You doing okay there, Steve?" Bucky asked, munching on a pepperoni slice,

"Was sobriety always this… real?"

"I don't think so. Can you see clearly now?" Bucky laughed,

"Almost?" Steve peered at him, "It depends. Did you always have tomato smeared over your face?" Bucky paused, then actually came at Steve with a slice of pizza. Steve dodged sideways, then took a bite out of it, "Thanks man. That hits the spot."

"We are not having a food fight."

"Like... actual twelve year olds…"

"Nope…"

"No way man…"


End file.
